Alliance of War
by fenikkusu no sentouki
Summary: This story is about Stephanie, a second year high school student who enters a book's world and finds out that she is someone special and still doesn't know why. This is something like Fushigi Yuugi with a twist of Tsubasa Chronicles and a lot more animes!
1. The Prophecy

Alliance of War Volume 1: The Reality of Fantasy

Chapter 1 The Prophecy

There was a time when darkness fell on earth, when Adam and Eve started to sin. When their successors have gained their dirty hearts. When conscupiscence was born. When there were no allies but only selfishness. Hell's era has started.

Hell rose from the fruit of Adam and Eve and from their departure from the Garden of Eden.

From the time nations have developed, hell was as abundant and crowded as ever. They are too many to dwell on earth, so they made another realm, deep underneath. Since then, they have decided to create earth a toy, where they sent devils to make sure that evil is still there. Forests were burned and animals are homeless, humans struggles to survive. no matter what they do, they are only slaughtered and are punished by devils. Their obedience to them is very disliked by devils, since obedience is never a sin. But when they refuse, they are punished with a long rope with thorns and blades sharp to cut a bone into two.

Though little does hell know, there is a little group among humans who desires to destroy them and protect humankind from them. The group's number increased as years passed by, as they hid from the devils from cave to cave, tree to tree, nation to nation they traveled near and far in order for them not to be caught by those devils. They have found a place where there is no devils in sight, the northern and southern poles. They made their bases here, though they are separated, they can survive here as there are springs and abundant food. They did all they could to enhance their powers and their strengths here. Magic and weapons were their specialty. Though they are only few and powerless compared to the devils, they trained more and more and continued to invite humans to join them in their rebellion.

The time has come when this group had a large population and are powerful enough to fight the devils and their destructive demons. They declared war and fought to the devil's surprise.

Though Temptation, the queen of all devils, enjoyed this rebellion and said that it is a very good thing indeed and allowed these humans to slaughter some devils of hers. But due to her enjoyment, she had a lesser amount of forces to destroy these rebels. She used her dark magic and conjured spells, making the north and south pole freeze. Luckily, all of them were at Hell's Headquarters, the place where most devils dwell and live, which is right underneath the barren desert of Eden. Here they fought. Though the demons' magic are powerful, they are useless in combat.

The angels descended from heaven to aid the humans and sent flying horses for them to use.

Their help has been useful, since their healing and resurrecting magic is very admirable and was feared by devils.

The war lasted for 30 years because of Temptation's destructive magic. And ,alas, the war was over. Humankind had won and Temptation fled and was nowhere to be seen. Peace fell on earth and angels, the fewest in number of all, sounded the trumpets and horns with joy to celebrate their victory.

Though it was peaceful, these humans never forgot Temptation's last words before she fled.

"There will be a time when a human will come to me, and we will conquer these lands for long."

Many centuries have passed and no one is sure if ever this has already happened, but the humans are still cautious about it and still are afraid. The angels searched for Temptation, but there isn't any luck.

The peace that humans are living with, may not be peace at all. But still, humans continued living and lived in peace, without worrying about devils.

Little did they know, Temptation married an unknown creature and gave birth to seven children, all of which are born at the same time, namely: Pride, Avarice, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger and Sloth. Each of which characterized their own selves.

The human's unconciousness adapted their traits, though unintentionally.

When Pride was given birth to, the human's questioned the angels' sudden arrival. They asked questions like where did they come from and how did they know of their existence?

When the angels answered these questions, the discovery of the gods and goddesses' existence became known and thus paganism started. Though the angels said that there are still two gods that they have never met and so has the other gods but is beleived to be the most powerful among every god. The existence of the two gods was questioned by all but seemed to be so real. They can feel their presence but they cannot be seen.

When Sloth, the last of the seven children, was born, the gods obtained the trait of laziness and did not continue helping the humans. This made the humans angry and another war started. Avarice, Envy, Anger and Pride became happy and decided to watch the ongoing war without Temptation's permission, much to her delight.

Due to the gods' laziness, they were defeated without loss for the humans, but the two gods were believed to still be there. Anger, however, became aggressive and started to attack the humans. The humans were alarmed and attacked the four children of Temptation. They were defeated, but not killed. They were thought to be gods as well, but they denied to be so, saying that they are too evil to be gods.

With the human's magic, they were forced to tell them what they are. Envy told the humans everything, about Temptation's existence and her marriage to Concupiscence and their other three siblings. Their location was known and the humans headed to attack them, imprisoning the four children, since they were powerful to seduct them into not killing them.

They headed to Temptation's lair and found the other three. The three was defeated but Concupiscence and Temptation was nowhere to be found. Lust uttered about Temptation being angry and suddenly disappearing.

All seven children were imprisoned in seven different towers located in seven different countries. Three more towers were added, the two believed to imprison Temptation and Concupiscence and the other one for the the human who will approach Temptation and relive Evil's glorious days. But all three towers were empty.

Generations came and went, with no luck of catching Temptation and the other two. But the search continues, as they wait for that time to come. 


	2. The Calling

Chapter 2 The Calling

"Wow, this is kind of interesting."

This is Stephanie, an average student of Elizabeth Seton School. She studies in this prestigious school, though it calls itself one, and has a clean record. She is not your ordinary female high school student. She is a student, numb to infatuation and affectionate actions. She is the type of person who gets easily amazed, even just seeing a balloon pop. She is optimistic and cheers people up without her noticing. She is an intelligent student, no question, but she is just flat-out numb towards those type of affections. Her class is in 2-A, the first section for the second year students.

"Hmm? Are you sure? The book doesn't even have a title."

This is Shirra, a classmate of Stephanie. She's a cheerleader. She's smart and beautiful. The type that most males, especially jocks, would like to date. The downside for the guys is, she is too picky. She prefers a hopeless romantic than a hunk, but sometimes she dates hunks then dump them afterwards, like a scratch paper used in her math class. Though she may be evil to the guys, if you befriend her, she will be committed to your friendship and be there for you 24 hours, even if you call her at 2 in the morning and ask for help, she's there to the rescue.

"You know, you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover."

This is Stephen, another classmate of Stephanie. He's smart and wise, but he tends to be a wimp but has a strong personality deep inside. By this, I mean REALLY DEEP. Probably deeper than the Marianas Trench. As deep as his personality, he thinks deeply but he knows when to surface this. He is the type of person that is kind, gentle, and calm. But when angered, you don't want to mess with him. The good thing is, he has a lot of patience.

"Yeah, whatever. You know, you guys should help me with these. They're really HARD!"

This is Sargon, another classmate of Stephanie. He's not that smart but he has outstanding abilities. He needs help in most of the subjects but he excells in practical things, like arts. He, like Stephen, is kind of a wimp. But this time, he doesn't have a strong personality. He is kind of depressed when he can't get things hard. Stephanie really gets irritated when he does. He was named after the ruler of the Akkadian empire, Sargon I.

"Not done yet?" asked Stephen.  
"No. Mind helping me out in number 5?" he replied.

Stephen went to Sargon's seat and sat beside him and tutored and corrected his work. Shirra smiled at them and Stephanie beamed. Stephanie shifted her attention back to the book, since she heard a soft, gentle sound of a bell coming from it. She examined the book and got up, looking bothered.

"What's the matter?" asked Shirra. Stephen and Sargon are too busy to notice.  
"I just realized. This book doesn't have a title, not even at its spine. It also has blank pages after the introduction." Stephanie replied.  
"Oh? Maybe its just faded. The pages do look old." "I don't think so. The book seems to be untouched and new"  
"Really? I think it's old. Look, there are some yellow pages"  
"No there's none"  
"Don't be stubborn, Steph. Oh look, guys. It's about time for the next subject. Better go before we violate the law."

They all stood up, Sargon looking disappointed since he still can't understand their lesson and Stephen trying to explain in more further. Stephanie, on the other hand, returned the book and looked irritated. She didn't see yellow pages, how come Shirra did?

It was time to go home. They all went to the locker and placed their unneeded things and took those that they need and left. They walked and stopped by the chapel. They went there and prayed. After a few moments, the church bell rang. Then Stephanie heard that soft, gentle sound of the bell. She looked for it, the source of the sound.

"Did you guys know where that bell came from? It's bothering me since we left the library"  
"Well of course! It came from the church bell." Shirra replied.  
"No, it's a different bell. It's soft and gentle, like a small bell." Stephanie answered, a bit annoyed.

"I didn't hear anything." said Sargon.  
"We were too busy, we probably didn't hear it." Stephen added.  
"I, too, didn't hear anything." said Shirra.

Stephanie's face crumpled, looking confused. Shirra smiled and said, "Maybe your just imagining it." "Probably.." Stephanie said, looking reluctant.

It was already night time and Stephanie was ready to go to bed. She looked outside of her window to have a little sightseeing. In front of their house was a large garden, not their's but the village's. She admired how the garden was taken care of, as it was very green and all flowers bloomed and the trees bore fruits. It seemed to be the best park she has ever seen.

The spring there was clean, no speck of dirt can be seen. Then she heard the bell again. She was shocked as it was louder, as if it was just at her hear. It seems to be talking to her.

"..someone's calling me.." Stephanie said. The surroundings faded and everything turned dark...

She opened her eyes and was shocked. She stood like a statue on where she stood. She can't think of how and why was she there. Of all places, in the night, why here?

She stood at the center of the Cardinal Williams Square, the place where they held school assemblies, in the middle of the night. She wondered how she got there and how come she entered the school with no trouble. The school has first class security, with cameras and guards on duty all night. The gates are always locked and no one was allowed to enter. She looked left and right, but there seems to be no one around. She headed back to the front gate, but then she heard the bell. She walked on, trying to think that she's just imagining things. The bell sounded again. She stopped. She stared into the dark hallways and saw a speck of light coming from the library. She went up and entered the library, thinking that someone was there with her, oh how optimistic is she?

She opened the doors of the library, which took great effort, since they were supposedly locked and she kept thinking how on earth will she open it and decided to open it after half an hour and to her surprise, it opened. She walked towards the shelves and looked for the source of the light, after calling out to the person who might have where the light came from. She saw the light and headed towards its source. As she got nearer, the light grew brighter.

There it is, she finally found out what emits the light. The book she was reading that had no title. Then the bell sounded, this time as loud as the church bell. It sounded again, a little louder, and again, louder than before. She started to cover her ears. The book opened, the bell sounded. Then the light from the book grew brighter and spread throughout the library.

She stared at it and the sound of the bell can no longer be heard, but something thin, but loud.

"It seems that she's absent today." Shirra said. When the next schoolday came, taking their fifth class.

"I hope she's fine." Stephen said.  
"Me too." answered Sargon.

The bell rang and it was time for their lunchbreak. They ate and headed to the library, their favortie hangout.

"You know what, I think I heard Steph scream last night." Shirra said.  
"What?! You too?" answered Sargon in shock and with a loud voice.

"SHHH!!" said the librarian.

"Sorry." whispered Sargon.  
"I did so too." spoke Stephen in hushed tones.  
"What a weird coincidence." Shirra said then the thunder boomed and a flash of lightning sparked from the sky. Everyone in the library looked at the window, but it was sunny. Everyone was in shock. It is sunny, no thunderclouds in sight. But then the lightning.

The three of them looked at each other in shock. They were speechless. Everything in that day, starting from the night they heard Stephanie scream until the night when they all went to sleep. They were confused and shocked, but there is nothing they can do about it. Everything that day, indeed, is a weird coincidence. 


	3. The Arrival

Chapter 3 The Arrival

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Stephanie screamed. There was a strong wind, blowing her. She tried resisting, but its no good. She felt like being stretched forcefully. Then the wind was gone and the force too. She was still covering her ears and she was kneeling down. She realized that everything was fine now. She felt something comfortable on the place that she is kneeling. Something like a carpet.

She opened her eyes. She was kneeling on grass. The grass was everywhere, like a baseball field only larger. There was a house in front of her, designed in traditional Japanese, wooden and has a dark blue roof with maroon linings.

There was a river behind the house, since there is a sight of a stream coming out of the house's backyard. There are cherry blossom trees on both corners of the house' frontyard. They were beautiful and she has never seen one like it. There are trees behind her too.

"Rise."

She widened her eyes in surprise, she never saw someone when she looked around. She stood up without hesitation. Though the voice doesn't seem to be scary, it was gentle, soft and has a tone of a woman's voice. She tried looking for the person who spoke.

"Who are you and where.."

"Please move towards the house and we shall speak there."

She did as she was told. She moved directly to the house. She realized that there were birds and some squirrels. She smiled since this was her first sighting of one. She stopped by the wooden fence of the house.

There the person was. The person who spoke was a woman. She had a beautiful, young face and a hair longer than anyone she knew. She had bangs touching her eyebrows. She has a tall, slender skin. She was wearing a long black gown with some designs of blue butterflies that glittered in the sun's light. Her pupils were colored in Dark red. She had a look like that of a mother, but she seems to be a teenager, somewhere in 18, but seems to be too mature for that. She looks experienced in everything.

"Why did you come here?" she said.  
"Y-you asked me to." Stephanie said, with a sudden nervousness. She looked like a vulture eyeing its prey when she spoke angrily.

"You shouldn't talk to strangers, you know." She suddenly said then smiled. "But I am glad that we met and that you went here."

Stephanie looked at her in confusion, but not obvious. Was she a psycho? First she got angry then got happy. Huh?

"So... why did you call me?" she asked.  
"Aren't you wondering why you're suddenly here? First you were looking at a book then you are here." the woman replied.

Stephanie was awestruck. Why didn't she? Wasn't she curious at all? How come she knew about this?

"How did you...?" she answered.

"I am Yuuko Ichihara, the Witch of Dimensions." she said, cutting Stephanie's answer. Stephanie looking dumbfounded.

Seeing this, Yuuko took a deep breath and sighed and somehow whispered, "Here we go again." 


	4. The Witch of Dimensions

Chapter 4 The Witch of Dimensions

"I am the Witch of Dimensions. I bend space and time in order to keep things in the right order according to Fate and Destiny's liking." Yuuko said and she reached out to her and opened the palm of her hand, the palm facing upward. Then suddenly a thick, big book appeared out of nowhere, resting afloat Yuuko's palm. There were writings that she cannot understand. She stared into the book and then it disappeared, Yuuko closing and withdrawing her hand.

"I am born with this gift, or others may consider it a curse, to be able to cast powerful magic in order to keep things according to Fate and Destiny. I have been given the power to control everything and the permission to interfere when things don't go the way they're supposed to."

"Okay..." Stephanie said, looking like she is disbelieving her probably-real statement.

"Have you ever thought that there might be another world? You know, another dimension, same planet but different area. Someone might be staring you at the face exactly right now but he is in a different dimension. Yes, there are other dimensions including your own." Yuuko said looking at Stephanie who can't seem to believe that there are other dimensions.

Yuuko reached her hand out again and opened her palm. From her palm popped out something like a solar system, the earth in the middle instead of the sun, with the planet's orbit like that of an atom's electrons, but the planets are mirrors with different reflections. There were an infinite number of mirrors and the reflections all seemed to move. Then Yuuko waved her other hand towards one mirror and the solar system disappeared into the air and the mirror that was left grew bigger. She can see some people, people who look like normal people but their clothes are weird. They wore black and purple gowns with designs you can't understand. They wore a distorted hat, or so it looks like, and there were some creatures she never saw before.

Stephanie found herself awestruck.

The solar system returned and the mirror returned to its normal size. Yuuko then waved her hand once more and another mirror grew and she saw people who seems familiar.

"They are..." she said.  
"Your friends, yes." Yuuko said finishing Stephanie's statement.

There sat Shirra on her seat and she looked worried.

"It seems that she's absent today." Shirra said. When the next schoolday came, taking their fifth class.

"I hope she's fine." Stephen said.  
"Me too." answered Sargon.

The bell rang and it was time for their lunchbreak...

Yuuko snapped her fingers and closed her palm and the mirror disappeared, the solar system didn't return. Stephanie found herself in tears, she doesn't know why.

"Now, do you believe me?" Yuuko said calmly, walking towards her and handed her a handkerchief.

Stephanie nodded and wiped her tears with Yuuko's handkerchief. She looked at the handkerchief and realized it was her lost handkerchief when she was younger. She looked at Yuuko.

"It is under Fate's desire for that handkerchief of yours to be lost." Yuuko said, smiling, before Stephanie said a word. Stephanie bowed her head and handed the handkerchief back to Yuuko.

"Why are you giving me back YOUR handkerchief? It's Destiny's wish for it to be returned to you in this manner." Yuuko said.

Stephanie smiled and kept her handkerchief in her pajamas' pockets.

"There are times when Fate and Destiny allowed me to interfere as long as it is reasonable. My actions are the only ones Fate and Destiny didn't knew of, so they gave me this gift." Yuuko said.

"Uhmm... Yuuko, do you mind if I ask you something"  
"No I don't. What is it?" "Why do you speak of fate and destiny like they're people"  
"Well, because they are." Yuuko said, staring intently at the stream.

Stephanie looked at Yuuko in shock. She can't believe that they are people.

"I'm sorry, but there is something that I must do for a while. There's a person who should be sneezing at this point of time but he didn't. I'll just rewind their time phase and I would make him sneeze." Yuuko said and she suddenly stood still, she resembled a statue in the Acacia Lane of her school, only there aren't any children beside her.

Stephanie looked directly at Yuuko's eyes, she didn't move and seemed to be a wax figure or a porcelain doll. She was about to ask her what happened then suddenly..

"That went well." Yuuko spoke. Stephanie jumping in surprise.

"Oh? I'm so sorry, that's what happens when I try to interfere with someone in another dimension. My body here seems to become a statue and comes back to life when I return." Yuuko said.

"Anyways, this meeting too, is an intervention by me, so you would be informed about the journey you are going to take."

"What do you mean by journey that I am going to take?" Stephanie asked.

"This journey has been made to wait far too long. The book was created by Fate and Destiny themselves, thus creating another dimension. The book, too, chooses who shall be the heroine from another dimension and that person will lead a certain group of people. You are that special person, Stephanie." Yuuko explained.

"Even Confucius, who found this book floating adrift on the Huang-Ho river wasn't chosen, and I have to do all the interference in order for that book to go to your school's library for you to find." she added.

"What if I don't want to go?" Stephanie asked.  
"You have no choice, Fate and Destiny decided your fate. Your parents had died for you to take this journey." Yuuko said, but then she covered her mouth with the two of her hands and said: "Ooops."

Stephanie became depressed at the very word parents. Her parents died of a wildfire when she was just young, young enough to remember what happened.

"I'm sorry. But there is nothing that I can do to stop it." Yuuko said, apologetically.

"Then why didn't you interfere?" Stephanie answered angrily.  
"Even if I can, there are certain limitations that I made to my interference. If I kept on interfering then everyone that I interfered with will try to stop that fate. I have made that mistake. King Arthur shouldn't have been king if I didn't tell Merlin. Merlin, on the other hand, will not know who is the one who will draw that sword from the stone! He wasn't supposed to take that sword when he is young, he's supposed to take it when he was in his late 30's!" Yuuko said, obviously irritated.

"Sorry I asked." Stephanie said, understanding Yuuko.

"No matter." Yuuko said, immediately getting back to her cool.

"Anyways, you must prepare for your journey." - she waved her hand and glitters came out from it and headed towards her and her clothes glowed and her outfit changed, an outfit ready for an adventure, she wore a long pair of pants and a short skirt on top of it, her t-shirt vanished and was changed with a long-sleeved blouse. She had a cloak dangling on her shoulders. Everything she wore were in pink, but not the same shade. - "You will meet someone there in the book's dimension. The time that I have consumed is too much. The time balance will be disrupted."

"Huh?" Stephanie said, confused.

"There is no time to explain. -she reached out towards the sky and a huge circle came down.

Stephanie didn't realize that there were glowing markings underfoot. The strong wind came again and her vision became blurry once more. - Have a good journey." Yuuko said.

"But.. but.." Stephanie uttered, trying to figure out where Yuuko is.

"Oh, by the way - as Yuuko spoke, the winds became a little bit gentle. - there will be someone who might be familiar to you but they have a different soul. Be mindful of that. They may look like someone but that person isn't that someone you know."

The winds grew stronger and everything turned black.

She saw a bright light, an opening, she covered her eyes to protect them from the extreme brightness of the light.

Then the winds disappeared and she found herself lying on a comfortable carpet. She can't open her eyes because of the bright light.

Suddenly, a shadow covered the bright light, and what she see through her eyelids was a pitch-black sky. 


	5. The Unexpected Journey

Chapter 5 The Unexpected Journey

There are times when we just wanted to lie down and sleep, escaping from the reality and wishing that the fantasy we wanted to be the reality we are in. During these times, we all just wanted to relax and fantasize. Some will even dream of having a huge house and a lot of servants, with butlers too. Some would even dream of a simple life, where they could be treated like normal people. Some wished for fame and fortune, a well-stocked fridge or even an infinite storage of everything-on-earth. But there are also wishes that they had real parents.

Stephanie, still with eyes closed, thought of what Yuuko said. "You will meet someone there in the book's dimension..." She wondered who and why her? She then thought of her parents, she saw them both, with her in the middle. She is imagining a family that never was. Her memory of how her parents looked like is vague. She only remembers her mother's smooth brown silky hair and her smooth skin. Her father's was jet-black hair and that he wore glasses. They both have the same skin color, the skin color she has, white.

As she was dreaming about her parents, a shadow suddenly blocked the bright light that she sees through her eyelids. She had a chain of emotions when the shadow came. Excitement, joy, sorrow, doubtfulness, curiosity, stupidity, cowardice and fear. She remembered what Yuuko said, that there are other dimensions and she was guessing she was in another dimension, not hers nor Yuuko's.

Pictures of alien creatures popped in her mind and she shivered in fear, only in mind. She tried not to cry due to her fear.

"Excuse me." said a voice. The voice sounded like it came from a man. Somewhere in his teenage years. But the tone is unfamiliar to her.

Stephanie opened her eyes slowly, with fear that it might be an english speaking alien and that she was under autopsy on top of a comfortable carpet.

Much to her relief, the voice came from a teenage boy. He wore glasses and has jet-black hair. He had periwinkle blue eyes that seemed to make you feel wandering in peace. His stare was as gentle as a feather. His smile was as sweet as chocolates. He wore a black cloak, covering the rest of his body. He reached out a hand, trying to help her get up. She held his hand and stood up.

He somehow resembled someone.

She looked around her and she was in a valley, with rivers and waterfalls. The place has fruit-bearing trees. There weren't any houses in sight. There is a mountain range at the west. It was a wonderful plain. There were different types of flowers, but most of them were red. There are orchids on most trees that is within reach. She looked back at the guy that helped her up. She opened her mouth, about to say a word.

"Hi. My name's Kimihiro Watanuki. You can call me Watanuki." He said raising his hand, asking for a handshake.  
"I'm Stephanie." she replied, shaking his hand.

"Yuuko sent you here, didn't she?" Watanuki said, still smiling.  
"Uhmm.. yes.. she did." "Ah..."

There was a slight silence when they both took a little more sightseeing.

"Uhmm.. pardon me, but Yuuko said that I will meet someone. Could that someone be you?" asked Stephanie.  
"Hmm? Oh, she did now? Hahaha.." Watanuki said, with a short laugh. "Yes, that would be me." He added.

"Yuuko is a tricky woman, no doubt. No one can understand how she thinks." Stephanie smiled.

"Well, I was tasked by her to tell you everything, well, just the basics"  
"To start off, this is the world of Garderobe, The world where there is magic and weapons of war used by people. Yes, just like the medieval period in your dimension. The only difference is that women are not inferior to the men and that witchcraft is used, also alchemy."

"This dimension is Fate and Destiny's very own dimension. They created this to mark their power. Though it is sad that there will be terrible things that will happen in the future.."

"Like what?" Stephanie quickly said, unable to resist asking, and cutting Watanuki's statement.

"I'm sorry, but that is beyond the level of interference. By this, I mean that if I tell you, you will do whatever it takes to prevent it from happening, which will give Yuuko a migraine. Everything that will happen here is not controlled by Fate and Destiny. Yes, only in this dimension because they want something that they needn't take care of, but they are keeping a close eye on this."

Stephanie listened to every word Watanuki said, as if she was afraid that she will be punished if she didn't.

"Well, as I was saying.. well.. where was I? Oh yes! Welcome to the plains of Sacae." Watanuki said, moving his hand to show the plains.

"This is where your adventure will begin. Your starting point, where you will meet some people who will accompany you. Though you may be few, your number will grow as the sun keeps on setting. Do not worry, Stephanie. They will guard you since you do not know anything in war." Watanuki added, seeing the look of terror on Stephanie's face.

"Unfortunately, I will not accompany you. I am only here to introduce you to the people whom you are supposed to be with."

"I will soon be gone, since the time cannot be held back for long." Watanuki said.

Stephanie just realized that they were the only ones moving. Everything else was still, like a 4D painting.

"Ah, here they come. Good luck to your journey, and don't talk to strangers!" he said and he disappeared into the air, leaving no trace that he was there.

Then there was wind. It blew the leaves and the grass swayed.

"That... was kind of useless. I didn't even get to know more! Like what kind of living creatures are infesting these lands?" Stepahanie said in frustration.

Then she heard voices. She looked around to see who was there. There wasn't anyone in sight. She kept looking, here and there, but still, there wasn't anyone. This somehow triggered her fear and she ran. She ran and ran then she slipped, because of a banana peel. She fell on the ground and hit her head on a rock, only slightly. Her vision was getting blurry, then it was all black, once more.

"...Hello?" said a voice. This one's a young female teenager's voice.  
"Maybe she's not wake yet." said another. This time, it's a young male teenager's voice.  
"Oh, I hope she wakes up soon." said the girl.  
"She will." said the guy.

Stephanie opened her eyes, the two voices sighed in relief. When her eyes were opened, she was greeted with soft smiles. The girl's voice came from the person on her right, a girl with short brown wavy hair and has green eyes and she was wearing a wide white skirt with pink linings and markings on the sides. She was wearing a matching blouse with a blue orb on her chest. The guy's voice came from the one on her left. He has short untidy brown hair, with green eyes and he was wearing an olive green cloak and black sando and red cargo pants.

"Where...?" Stephanie uttered.  
"Shh.." said the girl.  
"You must rest."

"We found you unconcious in the plains. You probably hit your head on a nearby rock. You should be careful." said the boy.

"Oh, and it was kind of my fault that you slipped because of the banana peel. I should throw my trash properly. Sorry." he said apologetically.

"I'm Sakura by the way. And this is my friend Syaoran." said the girl, pointing at the guy on the other side.  
"Nice to meet you." she added.  
"Pleased to meet you." said the guy.

Stephanie smiled, then she introduced herself, but she didn't say that she came from another dimension.

"I'll bring some tea." Sakura said.

Syaoran started reading a book, and Sakura left. Stephanie was lying down on the comfortable bed.

Sakura stepped in the room and placed the tea on the sidetable, beside the bed. She gave a cup to Syaoran and helped Stephanie sit up on the bed and gave her one too. She sipped and thought of the taste. It was delicious and tasted somewhat like iced tea only it's not iced tea.

"It's delicious." Stephanie said.  
"Thank you." Sakura replied.  
"You have enhanced your tea-making skills, Sakura." Syaoran added.  
Sakura smiled and Syaoran smiled back.

"Say, where are your parents?" Stephanie asked, observing that they were the only ones inside the cabin, no other movements on the other side of the room.

Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other and they both placed their teacups, still filled with tea, on the caosters placed on the sidetable, Sakura giving Syaoran his'.

"We are the only survivors when the bandits attacked our clan." Syaoran explained.

"They burned our houses and this house was somehow saved, we don't know how." he added.

Stephanie suddenly thought that it was Yuuko's "interference". But maybe it wasn't.

And Syaoran and Sakura explained to Stephanie how they survived, how they crawled and hid behind the trees and about how brutal the bandits were to their clan. Each bandit killed every member of the clan excluding them.

"And we were of no use to our clan... we could've helped! I could've healed them.. I.. I..." uttered Sakura, tears flowing from her eyes.  
"We were told to hide by the clanmaster, we have no choice but to obey." Syaoran said, in a way that comforts her.  
"Yes but.. but.." Sakura uttered. Her voice trailing away as she cried.  
Syaoran transferred seats and sat beside Sakura to comfort her.

"I'm very sorry." Stephanie said, with a tone of pity in her voice.

After a few hours it was time for them to eat their dinner, since it was already nighttime. Sakura prepared the food, with Stephanie's help. Syaoran prepared the table and helped look for the ingredients and cut spices. The house wasn't theirs, at the first place, so they weren't familiar with where things go.

After eating their meal, they all went to the sofas and sat there, reflecting on their past lives.

Then, Syaoran thought...

"Hey, do you think that we should leave Sacae? Since this is already an abandoned place, and the main kingdom is not yet acting on what had happened here. The bandits might return when they find out there is still a house standing on Sacae." he said.

Sakura's face had fear painted on it. Stephanie however, agreed with Syaoran's proposal.

"I think he's right. We should leave this place. Though it is your hometown, we have no other choice but to leave if we want to live." she said.

"Besides, we are fit for travelling. I can fight and you can heal, Sakura. Oh, by the way.. what can you do, Stephanie?"

"Oh.. well.. I.. I really don't.." Stephanie said, not knowing what to say.

"Oh my, you must have forgotten when you hit your head on the rock!" Sakura said, while placing her hand on Stephanie's forehead then later removing it.

"Oh, I am very sorry for you." Sakura added.

"Oh, don't bother. It's not that much of a loss, really." Stephanie said, taking the chance to be able to escape her dilemma.

"So are we decided?" Syaoran asked.

There was a moment's pause then..

"Yes. We'll leave at dawn. We must pack all the things that we need." Sakura said.

They all went to bed after packing their bags. They locked the door of that tiny cottage, and threw the key into the river. They immediately left after doing so, scared that there might be bandits around, based on Stephanie's story about hearing voices that led her to her injury. But then, Stephanie thought that those voices were actually Yuuko's, now that she remembers the voice's tone and approach were just the same as Yuuko's. 


	6. The Road to Escaflowne

Chapter 6 The Road to Escaflowne

A day has already passed and nothing was heard from Stephanie. Shirra and the others are worried. They can't seem to focus, since their minds were filled with worries. The fifth class was about to end, and they were going to take their lunchbreak. A few hours later, Aleena came by to return Sargon's tape.

"Sorry it was late. I kind of forgot to return it." Aleena said somehow with a tone of irritation, immediately leaving for her locker.  
"Why is she always like that? Will she be an anti-social forever?" Sargon said, irritated.  
"I wonder whatever happened to Stephanie. She's never like this. She would answer her phone immediately if she hears it ringing. But all I get is a ring and then no one answers." Shirra said, with no interest in Aleena's anti-social attitude.  
"I don't have any logical answer to this dilemma." Stephen said, with a tone of worry, showing no interest at Aleena's attitude.  
"Well, I think she misplaced her phone and is probably sick. She wouldn't be rude not to answer a phone call." Sargon said.  
"Maybe..." Shirra said, deep in thought.

Half an hour passed and they packed their lunch and headed to the library. As they took their seats, Shirra spotted the book that Stephanie was holding before she suddenly became absent and that weird scream. She took the book and read its introduction. As she was about to finish the introduction, she flipped the page, expecting an empty one. However, something was written on it. She couldn't believe her eyes. The book that both she and Stephanie investigated that was supposed to have no writings other than the prologue, had something on the next page.

Chapter 1 Sacae's Downfall.

It was written in bold script letters. Her eyes widened since she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Stephen, Sargon, come here! The book that Stephanie was interested in had writings on it, which before didn't have any!" she called out in a whisper, not forgetting that she was in a library. She stared at the book again. She clarified everything she sees.

She blinked a lot of times and still, the writings were there.

"What takes them so long? They're just behind..." Shirra said, looking around to see what took Stephen and Sargon so long. They were still behind her, still holding the books they were reading, but obviously they weren't concentrating, worried about Stephanie. Everyone sat still in their seats. The librarian stopped walking and everyone seemed to stop doing whatever it is they are doing.

"...me."

Everyone was standing and seating like statues, like wax figures in a museum. She looked at everyone, and yes, everyone was still.

She was shocked and was unable to move. She was like the wax figures, the only difference is that she was shaking.

"It seems that I am too late." said a voice.

She looked for where the voice came from. There was no one in sight. Shirra, now shivering in fear, panicked and tried to leave.

But her feet was rooted to the ground, frozen like ice cubes.

She saw a woman, wearing a long black gown with blue butterflies. She had the longest hair than anyone's she met. Her bangs touched her eyebrows and her eyes were dark red. The woman raised her hand, her index finger point towards her. Shirra, trembling in fear, unconciously looked at the book and the page was flipped, then she saw rapid scribbling. Her eyes widened and she was scared to death. She spotted the name Stephanie in the rapid scribbling of ink, no pen, no one was writing on the book. It was tightly held by her hands. She looked back at the woman with long hair, then a flash of white light shot at her, and her vision was blurry, and everything stayed still, and she dropped the book. She caught a glimpse of someone, the silhouette was somewhat like that of the woman's disappearing in midair and everything was black.

Sakura tiptoed her way on the small pebbles on the road, trying not to fall from them. Syaoran held his sword tightly, ready for a surprise attack. Stephanie, walking beside Sakura, smiled at them. Syaoran seemed to show no care. He was focused on the road they were taking.

As they continued walking, Syaoran came to a halt on an intersection reading Escaflowne and Prontera. Sakura and Stephanie, who were behind him, stopped too. They thought that they didn't know where to go. But Sakura saw the reason why Syaoran stopped. She pointed them and Sakura saw them too.

There are two people underneath the tree. A man and a woman. The man was standing on one side of the tree. He had blonde hair, with the same length of Syaoran's hair. He was wearing a long white furry cloak with a lot of blue marking all over it. He was wearing black pants and probably leather shoes. The girl however, was sitting on the other side of the tree. She had a long mahogany hair. She was wearing a white dress, with feathers that somehow resembled wings when her skirt was spread out on the grass. She was sleeping, the man was staring into his golden staff with a sapphire dangling on every intersection of the lining.

He seemed to notice them. He looked at them, from head to feet, somewhat like examining them with a sharp look in his eye. He had Sky blue eyes. After doing so, he smiled at them and gave a little wave. He moved towards them and Syaoran drew his sword in defense.

"Oh, I don't mean any harm." he said, directing to Syaoran, who still held the sword with a tight grip.  
"My name is Fai, Fai D. Flowright." he continued, disregarding Syaoran's defensive stance.  
"You are a young group of travellers, and very few too." He added.  
"Number is only something that judges people, it is the skill that should be observed." Syaoran answered, still holding the sword, pointing it at Fai.

"What's going on?" the girl said.  
"Oh, Chii, you shouldn't have woke up." Fai said to her.  
"No no, I had enough sleep." Chii replied.  
"This is Chii, everyone." Fai said to them.  
"I'm Sakura." Sakura answered. Syaoran, somewhat looked disoriented when Sakura introduced herself.  
"I'm Stephanie." Stephanie joined in.  
"I'm.. I'm Syaoran." Syaoran said, still holding the sword with a tight grip.

"Hmm? It's seems that we belong to the same age group. Although I'm a little older than you a little." Fai said.  
"Oh yes, indeed." Chii said too.  
"We're aged 18. How about you?" Fai said, with a sense of friendliness in his voice.  
"We're 16." Sakura answered.  
"I'm 14." Stephanie continued.

"Ah, it seems your the youngest in this group." Fai said. He opened his mouth once more and his friendly look on his face vanished. He glanced sideways and so did Chii. Syaoran too, looked at the direction that they were looking at. He drew his sword and Fai took his staff. Chii, held her necklace. Her necklace glowed when she spoke words that she didn't understand.

Then a bow suddenly rested at the palms of Chii's hands and a arrows were at her back. Her white sandals grew wings.

Stephanie found herself awestruck. Sakura, did the same thing too only her ring was the one who glowed and changed into a staff.

"Why did we draw our weapons?" Sakura asked kindly.  
"Someone who can't be trusted is coming." Fai said, with a tone of a protective brother.

Chii readied her arrows and Fai raised his staff. Sakura, enchanted some spells. She shouted: "Protego!" and a force field surrounded them, to protect them from incoming arrows.

"Get ready..." Fai said. Chii was looking serious and was focused.

"Are you not going to summon your weapon?" Fai asked Stephanie.  
"I.. I.." "She lost some of her memory. We'll tell you later on." Sakura said. Stephanie, looking at the ground, feeling useless.

Then a loud roar came from the forest. Bows came from every direction. Thanks to Sakura's spell, they weren't hit. Then you can hear people running towards them as twigs were crushed and branches were cut. Stephanie's heart beat faster. She was nervous. Chii fired her arrows and to Syaoran, Sakura and Stephanie's surprise, the process of taking the arrow and firing it at her bow was extremely fast.

"I can't hold on.. much longer.." Sakura said, gripping her staff and sweating, showing extreme effort. Then a rapidly striking arrow hit the force field and Sakura fell, the force field losing its power.

Fai said some words and casted a another force field. Stephanie attended to Sakura. 


	7. Four

Chapter 7 Four

"Are you okay?" Stephanie asked Sakura, with a tone of extreme worry, extreme enough that she squeaked when she spoke.

"I.. I.. I'm fine." Sakura replied, standing up with great difficulty. Stephanie lent a hand to help her stand. Sakura took it.

Just as when Sakura was standing up, a large group of men came out of the trees and eyed each one of them, from head to toe.

"Hey, looks like we have some Sacaeans and Celetians here!" shouted one of them. This man was a big one, holding a mace on his right hand. He had tattoos all over his arms and he was wearing no shirt or even shoes. He only wore a pair of red pants with a rope for a belt. He also have tattoos on his bald head, forming a traingle on his forehead.

Stephanie looked around and saw that they were all wearing the same thing, except for those using crossbows, they wore a sleeveless shirt, black with red linings. They had their hair tied up to a ponytail. They were wearing red shoes that looked like horrible sacks with ropes as the shoestring. There was no mistake that they were bandits.

"Lets kill 'em Sacae'ns!" said another brute.

They all headed to attack, the men on crossbows aimed at them, when Fai's force field vanished. Stephanie ducked, but Syaoran used his sword in defense and Sakura used her defensive spells. Some of the men were hit by the force field, so they went flying out of their way. All of them stopped and thought of what happened. Chii took this chance to fire away her bows and hit most of those using crossbows and Fai casted a powerful ice magic that froze those near them. He uttered the words "Vascilenem Mascilumvent" and the ice broke and transformed into blades, cutting into the ones inside the ice. Syaoran took an emblem in the shape of an eye and shouted, "Eye of Dashi!". Then the gem at the middle of the emblem emmitted a lightning and hit the other bandits.

"I will never forgive you!" shouted Sakura, with her eyes showing anger, then her staff glowed, and she chanted: "Pitiful soul, clothed in darkness, where are thoust fate be?!" and the gem on her staff released an ample amount of light and cut the sky into two, making an entrance. Due to the staff's magic, their clothes floated in midair, like a strong breeze hit them. The souls of the rest of the bandits then left their bodies and headed up to the entrance in the sky. The bodies fell on the ground. It was all over. Sakura dropped her staff and fell on her knees and gasped for breath. Syaoran attended to her. Fai and Chii went towards them as well, making Stephanie left there awestruck.

"You seem to have a lot of power in you." Fai said to Sakura, who is now sleeping in Syaoran's arms. "She is a good healer and summoner, I can tell." Chii said, smiling. Syaoran was looking at Sakura's deep-slumber-look and smiled.

"So, you seem to have forgotten what you are." Fai said, looking at Stephanie now.  
"Y-Yes.." Stephanie replied with hesitation. Fai simply smiled.  
"We must help her remember what she is." Chii said, with worry painted on her face.  
"Ah.. no need! I can do that on my own!" Stephanie replied immediately, afraid that they will discover who she really is.  
Syaoran opened his mouth, about to say a word, then closed it again, since someone intervened with their conversation.

"Aww.. I guess I was too late! Darn!" said a boy.

They all looked to the direction of the one who spoke, except Sakura, of course. It was a boy, a young average brown spiky haired boy with creamy blue eyes.

"Oh my! Aren't you too young to travel on your own?" Chii said with a mother's concern on the tone of her voice. Fai smiled at her.

"What's your name?" Fai continued.  
"Hmm? Me? My names Sora. I live in Escaflowne, it's the town nearby, and I live with my friend Kairi." he said. "Oh? Then what are you doing here, Sora?" asked Stephanie.

"Oh, I was just taking a walk and picking up some apples." he said.  
"And you were expecting to battle?" Chii asked.

"Well.. kind of.. yes." he said, with long pauses in between.  
"But you are unarmed!" Chii argued.  
"No I am not! Look at my weapon!" he answered back, with Chii looking pissed.

Sora took something from his huge wagon, where there was a horse that was supposed to be pulling it. It was a big golden key with gems placed neatly on it.

"A.. key?" Syaoran asked, in amusement.  
"Yes! A key! It can be very useful at times!" he said cheerfully.  
"Like how will you use it in battle?" Fai asked with interest in his voice.  
"I just hit it to them, it's kind of heavy you know." he said, with joy written all over his face. Stephanie smiled.

"Okay..." Chii replied raising her eyebrows in disbelief.  
"Looks like you have a big wagon over there." Fai said.  
"Yup, and it's mine." Sora replied with a smirk on his face.

"Do you mind if we.. if we.. rode with you?" Stephanie asked him, hoping to get the answer she wanted to hear.  
"Well, sure! Why not?" he said. He then saw Sakura, who was deep in her slumber. They all rode the wagon, with Sora on the driver's seat and Sakura on Stephanie's lap, still sleeping.

"Hiyah!" shouted Sora and off the horse go. They headed towards the town named Escaflowne.

"I believe that you have forgotten a lot of things." Fai said, after hearing from Syaoran about her incident and about everything else.

"Uh.. yes.." Stephanie replied with a smile to cover her nervousness.  
"Well, I hope that you are able to recover your memory in time." "Thank you." she answered.

"Syaoran, what's with the long face?" Chii asked.  
"Hmm? Oh.. uh.." Syaoran uttered.  
"Come on, say it." "I.. I'm worried that Genbu won't accept us." he answered with worry.  
"Oh, don't worry about that, you silly!" Chii replied with a tone of comfort.  
"Ge.. Genbu?" asked Stephanie unconciously.  
"Hmm? Oh I see, so you don't remember Genbu?" Fai replied with a smile.  
"Uh.. yes.." Stephanie replied, with anxiety.

"Well.. it will do you no good! Let me explain it to you. Genbu is one of the four different rulers, four different clans, four different people and four different elements. Well, obviously, the elements are fire, water, earth and wind. Each of which have some special people who specialize in bending them. They are the Fire nation, the Earth kingdom, the Water tribe and the Air nomads. They have mastered the skill of bending their element and using them for their own use. However, they do not make up the four different clans. These clans are the Wolf, Locus, Dragon and Serpent. These clans may or may not be kind to us. The bandits who attacked us a while ago came from the Serpent clan, they were enforcers and crossbowmen. These clans usually side with the four different rulers, Suzaku, Seiryuu, Genbu and Byakko. The dragon clan sides with Suzaku, the Locus with Byakko, the Serpent with Seiryuu, and the Wolf clan with the Genbu. Each of the four rulers have a priestess who rules over all. Each priestess has her seven celestial warriors, each of them are unique in a way. Suzaku has the phoenix as its guardian, Seiryuu has the blue dragon, Byakko the white tiger, and Genbu the black tortoise snake. Each ruling ruler has their own set of kingdoms, cities, towns, subdivisions and villages which can be considered part of them. However, Suzaku has undergone a problem of losing its priestess since she died and has no one to precede her. A priestess is needed in order to defend the Suzaku from war. It was predicted before that there will be a war, with gods and with the Devil Queen, Temptation, however, we are unsure when."

Stephanie was surprised that this dimension had something this complicated. She thought that she will be fine since she's the "Chosen One", but it seems like the opposite.

"So.. where did you come from, Fai?" she asked innocently.  
"Hmm? Well, since I'm a Celetian, I came from the country of Celes, which is under the Kingdom of Cerulean, Which is under the ruler of Seiryuu, which is water-specialized, so I think I am from the Water tribe." Fai said, smiling.  
"Oh.. " Stephanie said.

"I, however, came from the Air nomads, since I came from the city of Kunlun, under the country of Gothsheba, under the Kingdom of Ferrington, under the ruler of Byakko, which is air-specialized." Chii said.

Stephanie was just speechless. She didn't know where the hell she came from.

"We're here!" Sora said with a smile on his face, and there stood in front of them the castle gates of Escaflowne. 


	8. Escaflowne, Sora's Hometown

Chapter 8 Escaflowne, Sora's Hometown.

The gates were enormous, big enough to hide the kingdom itself when a few meters in front of it. It was made with metal painted in black with gold circles. At the center of it resembled a turtle, painted in silver. A thunderous voice spoke from the gates. Sakura woke up while Stephanie was looking at the black mable walls with white lines that seemed to be writings that she can't understand but it looks similar to kanji, Japanese writing.

"Who goes there?" asked the voice.  
"I am Sora, an Escaflownian and son of Baldur, I came from the forest to harvest apples!" replied Sora.

The voice did not speak anymore and opened the gates, however, no one was there. Sora ordered his horse to move on with his whip.

"I believe you have some business with the Priestess." Chii said, smiling to Syaoran.  
"Uh.. how did you..?" Syaoran replied.  
"As you were telling us the story of how Sacae was attacked, it seemed that your goal was to meet the Priestess and ask for justice." Fai answered, looking at the tower in the middle of many buildings.

Sakura while rising from Syaoran's laps looked at Chii, who was smiling at her. She doesn't get the look that Chii was making.  
"Don't worry, it will come soon." Chii said, with a friendly grin.  
"Huh? What will?" asked Sakura.  
"Oh, you'll see." then Chii stepped off the carriage of Sora, after Fai, leaving Sakura confused.

"Let's meet at the Inn later." Fai said, giving a wave to them as Sora ordered his horse to move. Chii did the same.

"So, you were about to talk to the Priestess, huh? Don't worry, she's a sweetheart." Sora said, smiling. "My friend works for her, well, sort of. She's the Lady in Waiting. Meaning she will be the one next to the Priestess when she dies, though I hope she doesn't!" Sora said, with happiness painted on his face.  
"I will go there with you to greet her." Sora said with a slight blush. Stephanie smiled at the sight of this.

The apples on Sora's carriage bounced as they took a bumpy road, leading to a huge castle.  
"Escaflowne is the central city of Genbu. Everything takes place here. Since Genbu is located at the west of Garderobe, the climate here is very fair, regarding the fact that Genbu specializes on earth, we never have flash floods and our forests are abundant." Sora said with a grin.

"Oh, that's nice. By the way, I forgot to ask you guys where did you come from. Mind telling me?" Stephanie said, smiling to Syaoran and Sakura.

"Oh, okay. Sacae is found here in Genbu, conquering the rest of the plains after the forest. We can be considered traditional, or native but we are not. Anyways, Sacae is just a field in Genbu, a town to be precise. The largest town in Garderobe." Syaoran answered.

"We specialize on earth as well, since we're part of the earth kingdom." Sakura added.  
"Oh I see." Stephanie replied.

They passed by buildings that are very inviting and courteous at the first look, friendly people and then a huge castle.

"That is the Alice Academy. Everyone in Garderobe who has special powers called "Alice" attend this school to enhance their powers." Sora explained when he saw Stephanie's look of interest.  
"Oh, okay. At the sound of Alice, I thought she was a vain person who created this school." she replied, smiling.

They again, passed by a huge temple, smaller than Alice Academy.

"This is the guild of Earth benders. They train here and hold meetings." Sora said.

They headed to the east. The apples bounced as they took a bumpy road. The road was made with gravel. Sora ordered his horse to stop, and they stopped by a shop.

"Good Morning, Urahara!" Sora greeted.  
"Ah, good morning to you too, Sora." replied the man named Urahara.  
"I have some apples for you!" Sora replied smiling.  
"Really? Why thank you. Please put them on the box near the door." Urahara said.  
"Oh, okay!" Sora replied happily, carrying his apples with the others' help. "Oh, you seem to have new friends!" Urahara said, entering the room through the sliding door. He was a tall slim man wearing a hat and loose kimono, the one for the males, and he wore traditional Japanese slippers. He had long hair, longer by a little to Syaoran's.  
"Ah, yes. This is Syaoran, Sakura and Stephanie. We met at the forest!" Sora replied.  
"Pleasure to meet you!" the three of them said.  
"Well, they seem to look like Sacaeans." Urahara said.  
"Yes, they are." Sora answered.

Sora finished giving Urahara the apples and explained that they have something urgent to say to the Priestess. They all said goodbye to Urahara, with him saying Good Luck to them and they left for the Main Castle. 


	9. The Main Castle

Chapter 9 The Main Castle

The doors to the main castle were huge, made of black marble. It was tightly locked, no one can be able to open it from the outside since there were no knobs. Stephanie looked at the door intently, thinking how on earth were they going to enter. She was about to open her mouth and ask, but Sora did some weird dance moves, but then it hit the door and placed a crack on the marble. He then tapped a few marble pieces from the crack, then there was a loud crackling sound. He then stood there, waiting for something. Sakura and Syaoran too were looking at what Sora was doing. Sora then took his enormous key and clicked it on the hole that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. At long last, the door opened.

"Only those who have very urgent business with the Priestess can talk to her, so we have to go and get an appointer, which will cost us a lot. It's a good thing I am permitted to enter the castle anytime I want, as long as it is a reasonable time. The castle door closes and opens for no one, not even the Priestess, at midnight. So.. welcome to the main castle, Sacaeans!" Sora said, as they entered the hall with awestruck faces.

It seems that all she did was to be amazed, so she then closed her mouth, which she unintentionally opened. The hall was decorated in black but it seemed like pearly white when struck by the sunlight. The curtains were in dark red, with gold ropes tied around it. There was a red carpet leading to the stairway which led to a thousand of doors.

They kept walking and she realized that they were walking on a transparent floor, which looked like black marble because of the ceiling which resembled a dark sky. She looked down and saw her reflection... it was water. They were walking on top of a glass which has water underneath it. She saw some small turtles swimming, lilies floating and some turtle food afloat on the water. It was an amazing sight to behold. Sakura and Syaoran seemed to notice it too. Sora, however, was walking like it was there since he was born. Well, she thinks it is, but it was her first time to see such a thing, so she smiled and thought of it as an exemption.

They all continued to take a long long walk and Sora halted when there was a man, tall, fair skin color, messy black hair, and was wearing a black suit with some badges and golden buttons. He welcomed them and directed them to the lobby, where there were a lot of people wearing different clothing, each has their own unique style.

"Oh, it seems that Alice Academy has a little field trip today." Sora said, looking sideways, with Sakura and Syaoran looking at the same way. Stephanie decided to look too.

There was a long line of students wearing black uniforms with white collars. Each of them had a unique hairstyle. One girl, who wore her blonde hair in pigtails, ran towards them and took the ball that seemed to be rolling to their area. Syaoran picked it up and reached it out to the girl.

"Thank you very much!" the girl said, with a smile on her face.  
"You're very welcome." Syaoran replied, with a smile on his face too.  
"Hey, Mikan!" Sora then said, with a big grin.  
"Oh, hello, Sora." Mikan said, still smiling.  
"Hey, I'll catch up with you later, my teacher's coming." Mikan said and ran to her line while waving to them. Sora waved back.

"She's my neighbor." Sora said in reply to the look on Sakura, Syaoran and Stephanie's faces. "Let's have a seat."

They all headed to the couch positioned in front of another door, with a label saying "To the Dining Hall". It seems that the guests are being fed there. Stephanie took a look around while on her seat. There were ribbons and curtains at the ceiling. Paintings also hang on the walls that are very high. A guy with long white hair approached them, he had a friendly face.

"What is your business here, Sora?" he said with a smile.  
"Oh, Rikku! Good to see you here! Is it your breaktime?" Sora asked.  
"Yup. I was about to head back up to the Priestess' room when I saw you. So who are the new friends?" he said, looking at the three of them.  
"Oh yeah! This is Syaoran, Sakura and Stephanie. They all came from Sacae." he said and then he told everything about them, not letting them do it on their own. All they did was smile and agree whenever Sora asks them about something.

"Oh, I see. So you are here to talk to the Priestess because of that?" Rikuu said, with a sense of concern.  
"Yup. Do you think you can get us up there?" Sora asked, with puppy dog eyes.  
"Of course I can!" he replied.  
"C'mon!"

They walked up the staircase, which seemed like forever. After entering another door, another staircase awaits them. They all climbed each step and then stopped in a room, it was painted in modest yellow with white columns. The room resembled a gown. It seems like a reception room to the Priestess' room.

"Everyone who needs to talk to the Priestess stays here if ever she is busy or has some business to attend to." Rikku explained.

They then headed forward and there stood a man with dark blue hair, wearing blue armor and a lance that is longer than his body.

"Where have you come from? It took DAYS for you to come here!" he said to Rikku, who just smiled and had an apologetic look on his face.  
"Sorry, I kind of got some urgent business here." and Rikku pointed his nose at the four of them. Lancer looked at them and asked: "Business"  
"Yeah, that's what I just said, Lancer." Rikku said.  
"Yeah, yeah! My hunger is just getting on me. Go and take the next post!" Lancer said.  
"Good luck to your business!" he added as he left the room.  
"Well I think I will have to leave you from here on. Just enter this door and Mizuho will be there to attend to you." Rikku said and opened the door. They all thank Rikku for his help and Sora gave a smirk, which seemed to be mutual understanding to them both, and Rikku got a little but annoyed.

They all walked forward, it was a black hallway. It was darker than the past room. The way was lit with candles and then there stood a woman with red hair, tied up to a messy bonnet. She wore a red kimono, dangling and was already hitting the floor and a part of it was folded. Behind her, there were three armed men, each of them wore a black cloak.

"Hello, I am Muzuho, the Priestess' scribe. How may I help you?" said the woman at the center, with a friendly grin. 


End file.
